Guidance and Counseling

• Guidance is an umbrella term for services aimed at personal and career development and school adjustment.
• Counseling involves personal assistance, typically through private discussion, for someone facing a problem.
• The goal of counseling is to develop self-directed, self-disciplined, and productive individuals.
• Most activities of counseling psychologists combine remedial, preventive, and educative-developmental roles.
• A counselor's role involves assisting clients with negative patterns.
• Counseling psychology shares areas of overlap with clinical, community, school, and I/O psychology.
• The Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004 includes functions like counseling and psychological testing.

Types of Counselors

• School Counselors
• Clinical Mental Health Counselors
• Marriage, Couple and Family Counselors
• Addiction Counselors
• Career Counselors
• Rehabilitation and Clinical Counselors
• Pastoral Counselors

Mental Health Professionals

• Social Workers
• Psychologists (Clinical and Counseling Psychologists)
• School Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Psychoanalysts
• Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses
• Creative and Expressive Therapists
• Human Service Professionals
• Psychotherapists

Helping Relationship

• Consistent relationships with caring adults are essential for healthy development.
• A helping relationship is the process of promoting the growth, development, maturity, functioning, and coping skills of another person.
• Carl Rogers defined the helping relationship as one where participants aim for more appreciation, expression, and functional use of latent inner resources in one or both parties.

Qualities of Effective Helpers

• Identify with people rather than things.
• Have a capacity to cope.
• Are warm and accessible.
• Inspire confidence and trust.
• Are mature, caring, compassionate, and human.

History of Counseling

• Philosophical teachings of Plato (Idealism) and Aristotle (Realism) influenced the field.
• 1900s: Frank Parsons, considered the father of vocational guidance, initiated the Vocational Guidance Movement.
• World War I: Psychological assessment gained importance.
• Great Depression: Expansion of counseling roles into clinical settings.
• Post-World War II: Influx to higher education increased career counseling.
• Cold War: Heightened emphasis on school counseling emerged.
• Law 2004 - Mouth Practice

Laws

• RA 9258: Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004.
• RA 10029: Psychology Act of 2009.
• RA 11036: Mental Health Act of 2018.

Characteristics of Effective Helping Professionals

• Empathy: Deep understanding of the other person’s point of view.
• Open-mindedness: Allowing others to express their point of view.
• Acceptance: High regard for others and their differences and Unconditional positive regard.
• Cognitive Complexity: Understand the world and the complexities of social forces acting on individual behavior.
• Psychological Adjustment: Looking deeply within/Self-awareness.
• Genuineness: Congruent actions with feelings and transparent readily show feelings to others.
• Builds relationships: Client change depends on the relationship between client and helper.
• Competence: Helper expertise and desire for continual learning.

Guidance and counseling assists with personal development, career choices, and problem-solving. Counseling aims to develop traits such as self-discipline, and increase productivity. Counselors work with clients to diminish negative patterns.